Breminale

Part of the festival area on Bremer Osterdeich , on the right the Weser , Breminale 2015

The Breminale is a five-day open-air cultural festival on the Osterdeich in Bremen , which takes place every summer. The last seven stages are attracting around 200,000 to 220,000 visitors. Under the motto “Culture for Everyone”, the Breminale events are traditionally free of charge for all visitors.

concept

The program has now developed into a colorful and high-quality mix of current pop culture and avant-garde, within which the Bremen scene can orient itself, measure and network. In addition to the top-class music events, the program could increasingly be expanded to include ambitious film, literature, performance, show and talk elements, making the Breminale a space for discourse on urban culture. In addition, the children's and family program was expanded significantly in 2014.

Program focus on live music

The Cologne singer and songwriter Mariama, Breminale 2009

The main focus of the Breminale's program is live music, which on some days starts at noon and usually lasts into the night. Over the five days, over 150 musicians and bands will perform in four large circus tents. A great variety is offered, which enriches the Bremen cultural scene with music from all over the world.

For example, the singers Patrice and Andreas Bourani headlined the Breminale in 2014 . The biggest crowd pullers in 2011 were the performances of Joy Denalane , Jupiter Jones and Pohlmann . In addition to the main program, there are many smaller activities to discover on the Weserwiesen: Various Bremen institutions, such as the living room or the Lagerhaus cultural center , curate smaller stages, Bremen residents can get active themselves on the dance floor and there is a comprehensive children's program for younger visitors.

history

Forerunner and redesign

The Breminale cultural festival has its forerunner in the "Weserlust", a cultural festival organized by the city of Bremen that came to a standstill in 1983. The AG Bremen was then founded with the aim of creating a new, culturally influenced festival away from commercialization. She received 100,000 DM in funding from the Bremen Senator for Education, Science and Culture.

1987-2006

The first Breminale was officially opened on September 16, 1987 on the market square in Bremen. At that time the area stretched from the street “Tiefer” to today's Café Ambiente and admission was free. The program included a mixture of theater, art, literature, music and a small children's program and drew tens of thousands of visitors to the Weser. The first Breminale was overshadowed by a tragic incident in which a visitor was killed by a flare rocket launched by an outsider.

In the first years of the event, the Breminale mostly took place around Whitsun . The mostly bad weather led to the myth that the Breminale and bad weather were inextricably linked.

In the years 1990 to 2000, there was a chronic lack of funds despite funding from the city. Nevertheless, there were considerable successes in terms of content, such as the appearance of Green Day before its international reputation in 1992.

In 1993, the new Senator for Culture, Helga Trüpel , cut funding and positions from job creation measures, so that the event team around the Breminale was forced to find a creative solution. As a result, Harald Siegel and Manfred Fleckenstein founded Breminale AG as two of a total of twelve founding members . The Breminale AG introduced a new financing and brushed consequently art, literature and theater as too costly points from the program. In 1999 the event was moved from Whitsun to July and therefore experienced a high level of visitors and media, which enabled the city and many regional sponsors to attract higher funding.

In 2001 the existence of the Breminale was threatened again by rising infrastructure and personnel costs. Due to the meanwhile great popularity of the event, this news caused a wide media coverage, whereupon the largest utility company in Bremen, swb AG , agreed to sponsor the shortfall. To this day, swb is an important sponsor that keeps the Breminale afloat. From 2004, the radio station Bremen Vier established itself as a program partner and continues to provide top acts and increasing visitor numbers to this day. In terms of content, the “off the beaten track” motto had to be dismantled bit by bit due to financial bottlenecks and programmatic cuts. To this day, however, the free admission to a now extensive cultural program has been retained.

Failure in 2007

Despite the positive financial changes at Breminale, the organizers were unable to make up for the shortfall in 2007. The Breminale had to fail. As a result of this setback, Breminale AG withdrew as the organizer. Instead there was a five-day flood open-air program in the light air bath in 2007. In a smaller format, the flood project has been to be found every year at the Breminale since the 1990s.

Since 2008

Since 2008, under new artistic direction, the Breminale has found a new musical opening towards more electronic influences and German bands. Since then, the aim has been to focus on a “culture festival” and to create new cultural collaborations, for example with the traveling cinema or the Schwankhalle artists' house .

Since the financial difficulties could not be resolved even among the new organizers, but the claim to a free festival was still decisive, a "donation fence" has been set up on the Breminale every year since 2010. By selling tickets and making voluntary donations, visitors can contribute to the maintenance of the Breminale at their own discretion.

Since 2011, the ecological aspect has also played a major role. The establishment of the “Bio-Erleben-Dorf”, the “Deichbankett” and “Bicycle Festival ” by the ADFC have since enriched the Breminale and promoted the alternative touch of the festival.

In 2012, Sternkultur UG took over the organization of the festival and introduced some structural changes. So there is now a fixed supporting program next to the music tents, called the meadow concept. In 2013, the area was expanded to include the “heavenly meadow” behind the art gallery in the ramparts next to the Weser. The four main tents have had catchy names since 2014.

In 2013 the largest Breminale to date took place with around 220,000 visitors. For some years now, the audience has also been mixed internationally, which speaks for the festival's growing popularity.

After a successful Breminale in 2017, local media reports revealed an internal conflict within the event consortium that endangered the future of the Breminale. After reorganizing the festival management team and submitting a viable concept, the funding was secured by the Bremen state government, among others. Since then, the agency Concept Bureau UG has been responsible for the Breminale. The Breminale 2018 took place at the end of July 2018 and the number of visitors was again around 200,000 despite the heat wave in the “Summer of the Century 2018 ” and an early closure due to a storm on Saturday evening.

Access to the festival area at Osterdeich from Altenwall / Tiefer , Breminale 2015
At Gold Roger's hip-hop performance on the event ship MS Treue at the “Tiefer” landing stage, Breminale 2015
The Austrian pop band Herbstrock , Breminale 2009
The band Polarkreis 18 from Dresden, Breminale 2009
The Irish pop band The Vals in the music tent "Himmelwärts" in the Wallanlagen, Breminale 2015